vt = maple syrup

among other things as well, but i will be moving there in the fall, so i should start getting to know my new home, yes? spent last week up in New England (and have the but bites to prove it) and also came back with "The Official Vermont Maple Cookbook" (2nd ed). it's got recipes for real foods as well as breakfast and desserts. so of course, i have my lovely jar of maple syrup from the vermont country store still left and so i picked a recipe that was quick and fast (trying to bake before my nephew sleeps so i don't make any noise is a very interesting dilemma, if only i was getting skinnier...haha).

i chose the maple gingerbread recipe and made just one tweak for ease and to decrease calories and boost the nutritional value of it.

Maple Gingerbread (makes 1 large loaf)
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup maple syrup (i used B grade)
1 cup plain Greek yogurt (the recipe originally called for 1 cup sour cream, if that's what you have on hand, feel free to use)

Preheat oven to 325F. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix maple syrup with beaten eggs and add yogurt. Combine the dry and wet ingredients and pour into greased bread pan (or 8" x 8" cake pan) and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and pulling from edges. You can serve with whipped cream or ice cream (it tastes really good as a bread too by itself). Eat it when it's warm, it's amazing then!

*you can really taste the ginger in this bread, although while it was baking all i could smell was the maple syrup. the bread is really soft and moist (go yogurt!) and it would probably make great french toast bread or bread pudding but it's so good by itself that it might take away from the taste. now i'm out of maple syrup again....and still a dozen recipes to go...guess i need to make another trip to VT before i move there!

and lest you think there's no future dietitian in me, here's the low down on maple syrup- i never knew it had manganese and riboflavin (along with other minerals)!

i'm not done! if you're looking for a super quick and easy dinner idea this can be prepped the morning of (or night before and kept in the fridge until you can pop it into the oven). it's also very versatile and can be made to fit your tastebuds and what's on hand in your kitchen.

i'm calling this mexican lasagna b/c it takes the form of lasagna and i had lots of mexican ingredients on hand. i spooned salsa on the bottom of the baking dish, layered corn tortillas next, then i had frozen broccoli and kale so in that went. then followed chickpeas and black beans (rinsed and drained), chopped onions and sprinkling of mozzarella cheese. i made two layers and left it in the fridge while i was at work. when i got home i popped it into a 350 F oven and baked for about 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melty (feel free to add or take away any ingredients- avocado, olives, chicken for you meat eaters, etc would all be really good in this)

dessert overload!

oh wow, it's been a while since i've been here, but the semester is finally over (phew, scrapped by with no sleep and chugging honey tea w/ a splash of lemon. it really works!). but here's a recap of the last 2.5 weeks, and can't really talk about life w/o the sweet stuff right?

goodies from top left clockwise: stollen, maple cookies, biscoff cookies, biscoff scones, and oatmeal and dried cherry cookies

baking is my chance to work out my stress and get away from thinking about school or applications or whatever and just focus on a recipe and making something yummy. so as strange as the quote may seem at first i'm working on trying to notice Now.

but onto tastier things- recipes

• stollen is a German fruit cake (don't think the ones you see in the grocery store) filled with dried fruit (such as cherries like mine) and topped with powdered sugar. it's often made during the Christmas season so i was pretty much on target. one of the volunteers at my museum is the sweetest German lady ever and she's forever trying to feed me and take care of me, so i wanted to bake her something nice. this recipe doesn't actually include the yeast/rising/dough part, which makes it good for those under a time constraint. when i'm a bit sleep deprived i tend to forget things so mine was missing the egg (whoops!) but it was still very tasty. the bread was denser than the stollen the volunteer has fed me, but still really good. maybe i'll give fruit cake a try...haha
• maple cookies: these cookies and the dried cherry oatmeal ones occurred during frantic studying for advanced human nutrition (i used a whole pack of looseleaf paper by the end!). i used grade B (from VT). i had to change the sugar b/c the brown sugar i bought for thanksgiving had mysteriously disappeared...haha. but i had 1/2 c cane sugar as my sugar and got about 3 dozen small cookies (bite sized treats). i wish these cookies were a bit more cookie-like and less cake-like.
• biscoff cookies: biscoff spread is amazinggggg. it's funny how i don't really like sweets or desserts wtih caramel in them (b&j's caramel sutra comes to mind), but the caramel of this spread is rich and creamy (sugar and butter will do that:). there's tons of biscoff cookie recipes, and now i can't find the one i used, but our recipe called for them to be rolled in sugar before baking which i think tops the yum factor.
• biscoff scones: had the jar lying around so might as well put it to good use (although taking a spoon to the jar also sounded like a pretty good idea!). we left the glaze off b/c they were going to get transported to CT and scones always taste better warm so figured the glaze would just melt in funny ways when reheated. i would suggest making two smaller 4" wheels and then cutting b/c as one wheel these scones are way to big for one person to eat a wedge! but the biscoff flavor comes out really well in these scones. perfect with a cup of coffee.
• oatmeal and dried cherry cookies: once again, no brown sugar so for the sugar i used 1/2 c granulated sugar and 1/4 c cane sugar, but i'm sure using the regular sugars called for is fine (i also like my cookies a little less sweet, esp since my dried cherries were sweetened). these cookies are great buttery and crisp in texture. it also has a great sweet/tart flavor. 

happy baking! off to new england for a week or so. happy holidays and hopefully the world doesn't end on the 21st so i can keep baking.

pumpkin goodness

a mini pie

if you don't have a pumpkin pie recipe for thanksgiving yet and want something a little different this year- go for this (i may sing a different tune when i try out a paula chiffon pumpkin recipe, but that's not important right now).

wasn't really feeling in the thanksgiving mood (which is a clear sign of something very wrong!) but after my run this morning i was feeling so much better (now i know, those 5 am runs are completely necessary). but anyway, since i had today off from work and was feeling rejuvenated, baking was in order! this is a recipe merging a much healthier recipe with a not as healthy one, and together it's yummy goodness, totally ready for t-day!

the crust inspiration comes from this fitness blog which i think i actually found from some daily newsletter i get in my inbox. 

regular sized muffin cup

the filling comes from my friday-at-work-and-only-30-minutes-left to do perusal. from foodnetwork.

i had some leftover filling (i made less "crust") and so popped the rest in the microwave for 3 minutes and had instant pumpkin pie filling (my favorite part). not sure what to call this- but i'm going with oat & date pecan maple pumpkin mini pie with maple whipped cream. whoo, that's too long. any suggestions?

Oat, date & Pecan crust Maple Pumpkin Mini Pie w/ Maple Whipped Cream

Makes 12 mini, and 8 muffin cup sized pies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups instant oats

8 large dates, pitted (make sure you take out the seeds, or you'll have my problem and wonder why your food processor sounds like it's dying and then have to dig and search for each partially broken seed)

pinch of salt

~ 1/4 c pecans

1/4 c water

1 c pumpkin puree

1 T all purpose flour

1 T sugar in the raw

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 c heavy cream

1/4 c maple syrup, grade B

1 egg, beaten

Maple whipped cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 c grade B maple syrup (or to taste)

dash of cinnamon

Optional

Top with a toasted pecan

Line muffin pans with paper wrappers. Process the oats, dates salt and pecans. Slowly add in the water until the mixture begins to combine (but not wet sticky!). Form into balls and press into the muffin tins.

For the pumpkin filling, combine all the ingredients except the egg. Taste, add more maple syrup or spices as desired, and then add in the egg. Spoon into the muffin tins and bake at 400 for 15 min (for the little ones) and about 25 min for the larger ones. Place a pan filled with some water in the oven (this way the pies won't crack on top and stay nice and moist).

For the whipped cream, beat the whipping cream on high speed until the mixture thickens. Add the maple syrup and continue to beat until the cream holds firm peaks. Dollop on top of the pies and sprinkle with cinnamon. Top with toasted pecan. 

happy baking!

i love mondays

it's funny how much i like mondays now that it's my latest starting day. and by latest i mean i actually get to wake up at 6 and go for a run instead of getting ready for work or school. it also means i get to dally through breakfast- cook something, read blogs, catch up on the TODAY show (i am sounding vaguely like a housewife...big dreams in my life!).

lucy made me all sorts of jealous the other day w/ a picture of hangover banana pancakes and it's been years since i've made pancakes and i have this wonderful little bottle of Vermont (grade B!) maple syrup that really needs some love-

the recipe was kind of thrown together with instant oats, flour, a dash of baking soda and cinnamon with an egg, spoonful of yogurt, and soy milk. i poured that all onto the skillet and then pressed the banana slices into the top part. flipping was an interesting feat, but as long as your base is done right then it should flip fine (that or just do the hand on the handle and flip for dear life). this little baby literally took 5 minutes to make so now i have no excuse to not make pancakes all the time (or at least until my syrup runs out...). these would taste great with some chopped up walnuts or pecans or chocolate chips in them.

happy fall!